We Really Are Having Two Different Conversations

And it’s time to start thinking about having one.

This is my final political post before Tuesday. For sanity reasons I’m changing my tune for the rest of the election and I invite everyone else to do so as well. So here are five quick points to consider as we seek to sort this shit out…

1. No one is going to change anyone’s mind Tuesday.

2. We are not having discussions, we are having political ads. Which we ignore until the “Skip Ad” button comes up.
Person A: Our children deserve health care.
Person B: BUT ISIS OMG.

3. Some of the greatest political moments in our country’s history—Civil Rights Act, Marriage Equality decision—owe much to A-level back room wheeling and dealing, not party politics. They were about coming together, one way or another. LBJ famously gave out NASA pork barrel money to Republican states that would back the CRA.

4. One of the shocking things for me this election was seeing how the worst thing one supporter could say about a candidate could also be used—with the same photo—in support of the other. Because we are having two different conversations.

5. Political “beliefs” are about as helpful as religious beliefs. They can guide you—sure, what the hell—but they can’t guide our nations. The only way we are going to move forward as a nation and pay our firefighters and get clean water and energy independence is by dropping the name-calling and reaching out to those people who you’ve muted on FB since last year. Forget the political parties for a moment. What do you want for this country in the future? Is it great schools, a healthy economy? And can we talk about ways to get there together?